>a driver who made a LEGAL "right turn on red" while I was LEGALLY crossing.
Wow:
Not that it would make a damned bit of difference to you if you got squished, but it is illegal to make a right turn on red when there's a pedestrian in the crosswalk. Even if, Heaven forfend, you are following orders and running when the sign clearly says "Don't walk." Running certainly is NOT walking, so it's OK, right???
While pedestrians always have the right of way, sometimes they are dead right.
Our English and other correspondents who drive on the other side of the road (notice I didn't say the wrong side) will verify that a New York cabby almost changed the course of world history back in the 30s when he ran over Winston Churchill, who had looked to his right when stepping off a kerb (and I even spelled it right!) rather than to his left.
A decade too long ago, I was in Ireland on a cycling holiday. After something like 20 hours in airports or airplanes, I was cycling from Shannon towards Limerick, in early afternoon, safely hugging the left kerb. I stopped at a traffic light and looked to my right at the car about two feet from my elbow. "What," I said to myself, "is that dog doing driving that car?" Proper rest is a prerequisite for making my brain work!!!
And apparently accidents such as that that almost took Churchill from us are also a matter of concern in Dublin. There, painted on the sidewalks, are instructions to look to the right rather than to the left when crossing the street.
